Places Zesra Wants to Go

A few hidden stones are said to bring fortune and love.

Stuck in a bygone era, the oldest subterranean shopping street in Japan hides beneath the popular Asakusa district of Tokyo.

Legend says the goddess this shrine honors curses any couples that pass by.

Mythical beasts symbolizing the city of Tokyo guard a historic bridge.

This museum showcases the art of ancient sword-making.

A giant gorilla guardian of the neighborhood, warning people to drive safely.

A network of ancient tunnels and vaulted chambers with mystical Buddhist reliefs, built for ascetic training.

Its collection distills more than 60 years of pop culture in Japan, from Godzilla to Hulk Hogan.

Nestled among the bamboos in a temple complex, this art installation serves as a unique memorial to insects.

A mountaintop shrine-temple guarded by a horde of half-demon priests.

Every spring, this walkway outside the Japan Mint turns into a cherry blossom tunnel.

Perhaps the world's cheapest vending machines.

This whimsical garbage disposal facility receives around 12,000 accidental tourists each year.

This brothel-turned-restaurant features plenty of surprises and elaborate, extravagant architecture.

A bovine sumo match in which both bulls live to fight another day.

Existing for more than four centuries, the last of Hakone’s historic teahouses serves a sweet, mold-based rice drink.

Sidle into a side alley for a taste of sumo wrestlers' traditional hot-pot soup, in a tiny restaurant founded by a former competitor.

Fine dining in the bizarre world of Lewis Carroll.

The former site of the U.S. military base redeveloped as an art district, boasting a collection of 109 public artworks from 36 countries.

This lesser-visited gallery in a corner of the Tokyo National Museum complex is an architectural beauty dedicated to the ancient treasures of Hōryū-ji.

A Catholicism-themed restaurant where sacrilege is on the menu.

Serving you alcohol with a side of insanity. Also, costumes!

Haunted house kitsch meets Japanese folklore at this theme bar where patrons can “die” and have their own mock funeral.

Model trains whizz around an extensive room-sized diorama of Kyoto City.